A Shrunken Alchemist
by TashaFirefist
Summary: After the Gate takes him in exchange for his brother, Edward is surprised to wake up in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. Unfortunately, gaining the unwanted attention of a certain Black Organisation in the process. In order to find his way home, Edward must survive Murder Cases, Kidnappings and more... while keeping his real identity hidden from a bunch of nosy detectives.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Detective Conan.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

The greedy, black hands pulled Edward into darkness, and the Gate slammed in front of him, cutting off Truth's amused smirk. He fell backwards, falling until his back hit the icy ground with a smack. Edward bit back a muffled groan, and let his eyes adjust to the harsh, dim light. A disgruntled sounding voice echoed in his ear, speaking a language which sounded very similar to Xing. To Edward's surprise, he could understand it perfectly. _Must be from the Gate's knowledge… again._

"Who's that?!" A gruff voice called.

"I dunno. Some kid who shouldn't be here."

A muffled click resounded through the darkness, causing Edward to shoot his eyes open and lurch to his feet in panic. A circle of cold metal suddenly pressed itself to Edward's forehead. He froze, gasping loudly. The man was broad in the shoulders, with close-cropped dark hair and black shades covering his eyes. Another man was standing behind him, with silvery-blond long hair and cold eyes. Both men wore black clothes and the hand pressing the handgun to Edward's forehead was steady and relaxed.

Edward's eyes widened, and he clenched his fists. _Assassins most likely._

Sensing movement out of the corner of his eye, Edward spotted the broad man's finger tightening on the trigger. He frantically ducked, feeling the bullet rip past his messy braid. Edward slammed his hands together and slashed his automail arm towards the harsh glint of the gun. The tip of the gun hit the ground with a muffled thud as the gun was sliced in half. Edward then followed up the attack with a punch to the broad man's gut, sending him reeling back.

A wet, white cloth was suddenly wrapped around Edward's mouth and nose from behind and cold fingers latched onto his shoulders, holding him in place. Gagging as the scent of chemicals assaulted his nostrils, complex equations swam through his head. _It's chloroform… But how?_ Edward struggled to clap his hands together, picturing an array designed to weaken the drug's effects as his legs gave out from beneath him.

"We could have taken care of the brat ourselves, Vermouth", The long-haired man's voice purred.

A woman's voice coming from behind him replied, "The police have been tipped off about a drug supplier in the area, they're searching these abandoned warehouses one-by-one. They would be very interested in a kid shot to death, Gin".

Just as Edward lost his grip on consciousness and his surroundings faded to black, he clearly heard a loud clicking sound. The sound of a briefcase opening.

* * *

Inspector Megure slammed opened the door of Warehouse 5, followed by Takagi, Sato and Shiratori, holding guns with the safety firmly switched on. Dust coated the sides of the room, and spider webs hung, shimmering in the corners. Judging by the room, this warehouse was as empty as the others. However, nobody could say that the police did a half-assed drug bust. So Megure searched the left of the warehouse, Shiratori climbed the stairs to the next floor, Takagi stood guard by the door, while Sato went into the next room, deeper into the warehouse.

The police officers searched their assigned rooms, suspecting that this building was another dead end, until Sato's cry echoed through the rooms, "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

Footsteps pounded towards the back room as the male police officers raced to Sato's position. Hearts in their mouths, mentally bracing themselves for blood and carnage. Unfortunately, nothing could have braced them for grisly sight that met them.

Blood seeped from a small form curled up in a bundle of red and black clothes. Sato knelt next to the child, stroking a golden, tousled head. The child's eyes opened blearily, glazed with pain as he whimpered softly. Sato murmured words of encouragement and sympathy as Megure whipped out his cell phone and dialled the emergency number. Shiratori carefully lifted the clothes away from the boy, searching for a wound, frowning as he spotted a glint of metal.

Megure snapped his cell phone shut with a sigh. "An ambulance is on its way", his eyes studied the tiny figure sadly, "let's hope the child pulls through."


	2. Chapter 2

Conan examined Detective Inspector Megure's confused face. A tiny bead of sweat escaped from his lined forehead and traced its way down his cheek as he explained his most recent case to Mouri. The lights of the stuffy hospital blinked overhead, and the smell of antiseptic laced its way through brightened, white-washed corridors. Takagi was scribbling notes in a small, black notebook while Sato was pacing, her brow narrowed in thought.

"…was found by my team as we investigated the tip-off in Warehouse 5 by the docks." Megure gestured to the door. "He was found in clothing twice his size, and wearing incredibly advanced prosthetic limbs, three times too big for him…"

Conan's eyes widened. _Could it be?..._

Megure was interrupted by a gasp, "Prosthetic limbs?!" Ran cried, "on a child?!"

Megure sighed and lowered his head, causing his wrinkles to cast shadows over his face, highlighting his age. "He's missing his right arm, up to his shoulder, and his left leg up to his knee. Doctors have been reluctant to remove them, as they appear to be directly connected to the kid's nerves, despite the obvious strain it puts on his body."

"Why am I investigating some damn brat?" Mouri whined, "I'm missing out on Yoko-chan's three hour cooking show!"

Conan rolled his eyes to high heaven at Mouri's stupidly and selfishness.

"We can't find his medical records, Mouri-kun." Megure started to pace, "even though the scarring around his stumps indicates professional medical performance, we can't find anything. Not only that, neither his fingerprints nor DNA show up on any database we have access to."

 _Well, that's a relief_

"Why is it though urgent though? Can't I just investigate him after lunch?!"

"Not only may this boy be a witness for the drug operation at the warehouses. This boy is heavily injured with serious wounds, Mouri-kun" Megure yelled, "We need to contact his family, who must be worried sick, and capture the people who would do this to a child! What if it was Ran or Conan-kun?"

"Not to mention, we need to contact his mechanic". Announced a dark-skinned teen, leaning against the hospital door in a thick Kansai ben accent, and spun his baseball cap to the front so a shadow was cast over his face.

Conan winced and a furious glare crossed his face. _Not again!_

"Hattori-kun?! What are you doing here? And why would that boy need to contact a mechanic?" Megure's eyes widened.

"If what I heard was correct, the kid has highly advanced metal limbs attached to his nerves." Hattori snorted, "Of course he has a mechanic, right boy?"

Conan quickly erased the glare from his face as the attention was directed towards him, courtesy of that baka (idiot) from Osaka. "Uh huh!" He faked a childish grin.

BANG! A loud crash resounded from the room in front of them. Conan and Hattori exchanged glances and rushed past the officers, pushing open the door to the hospital room.

The bed in the middle of the hospital room was empty, with the blankets and sheets crumpled and twisted. Conan scanned the room, searching for its current occupant, until his eyes fell on a small figure lying on top of the fallen IV stand. Hattori quickly rushed to the boy's side and carefully lifted him back up onto the bed, with the boy struggling weakly.

The small boy looked only 4 or 5 at the most, and was dressed in a small, green hospital outfit. He had long, golden hair pulled into a braid which hung down to his shoulders. His bangs were also parted in the middle so that they framed both sides of his face, and in the centre of the parting, a single strand of hair was left sticking up like an antenna. It turned out Megure was right, the boy was a double amputee. What surprised Conan was the complexity of the metal prosthetics replacing them, and their incredible size when compared to the child's small frame.

As though feeling Conan's gaze on him, the boy's eyes opened and searched his face warily. Before the eyes slid shut again, Conan caught a glimpse of a brilliant golden colour, shining with intelligence.

 _I've never seen that eye colour before, I wonder if it's genetic?_

Hattori straightened up with a sigh of relief, "Shrimp's heavier than he looks".

Conan watched with a startled amusement as the boy's eyes shot open again, grabbing Hattori's shirt with his left arm and shaking him violently.

"SHRIMP?!" The boy howled, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOUR CALLING SHORT YOU DAMN GIANT! JUST SAY THAT AGAIN AND I'LL RIP OFF YOU FEET AND STICK THEM ON YOUR HEAD!"

Hattori froze for a second, before throwing his head back and roaring with laughter. "Seriously?!" He gasped, "Well it looks like _someone_ has height problems!"

The boy glared at Hattori, and to everyone's surprise, managed to pull the oversized metal arm back as though preparing for a punch.

 _How can he even lift that huge thing?_ Conan frowned in concern.

The huge metal arm thumped onto the bed as the boy's strength gave out. Speckles of blood stained the sheets as the boy doubled over and let out a hacking cough.

"Wha-?" The boy frowned as he wiped his blood off his chin, confusion dancing in his eyes. He then dropped his head, eyes darting between his right leg, and his huge, metal prosthetic limbs. The boy visibly paled and looked as though he was about to sick, with his breaths coming in hyperventilated gasps.

Conan noticed that many of the adults looked physically sick, and Ran had her hand clapped to her mouth in horror with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"He didn't know!" She murmured, trembling violently, "He… He just found out!"

As the boy's breathing slowly evened out, Conan watched him eye the crowd of people standing at the foot of the bed pleadingly. "Can you tell me who I am?"

Conan froze in horror. _He can't remember?_

* * *

 _I have no intention of telling anybody else about the existence of the Gate of Truth or the Homunculi._ Edward thought furiously. _Father cannot be created again. Plus, If Truth hadn't been lying, then I really am in another world, where Edward Elric doesn't exist. Although I hate lying to people who are just trying to help, this is my only option._

"Can you really not remember anything?" A small boy with glasses asked, his eyes filled with intelligence.

Edward froze and snapped his eyes shut, his brain racing at a million miles per hour, memories of his experience with Truth dancing at the ends of his fingertips. _I guess I have no choice._ He focused on the idea of being stuck here. In a foreign world without his friends, without Winry, without Al. Forever. Edward's hand trembled with fear and he opened his eyes, looking at the boy in horror and faked confusion. "I- I don't know". He gripped his head, "I- I don't know anything!" Drawing his knees towards his chest in a protective, foetal position, Edward's breath came in short, panicked gasps. "Why can't I remember anything!"

Fortunately, Edward read up on the causes, symptoms and effects of amnesia in order to gather more information about Al's missing memories about his time spent in the gate, so faking amnesia wasn't exactly hard.

A teenage girl with traces of tear tracks on her cheeks stepped forward and rubbed her warm hand against his back, drawing small circles on the green hospital shirt. "My name is Mouri Ran, and I have a foster brother just a few years older than you..."

Edward's eyes widened as Mouri's hand's traced his back. They were so warm. Like… like his Mother's. Involuntarily tears sprang to his eyes as he relaxed under the girl's touch, feeling as though all of his fears, his pain was being washed away. _When was the last time someone held me like this?_

Edward shifted uncomfortably as the large group of people stared at him and his bloodied sheets in shocked concern, whispering among themselves until a plump man with a brown outfit and a moustache pushed his way to the front.

"My name is Inspector Megure…"

Edward blinked, scanning the people in front of him in confusion. _An Inspector… Definitely Police then. Well some of them obviously have had basic police training, but I doubt that the kid with glasses or the girl in school uniform are involved… Then again, who am I to talk?_

"…We discovered that the ripped shirt you were found in was labelled."

Al… Edward flinched, sadly remembering the suit of amour teasing him for losing two sets of spare clothes on the train. After the incident, Al had meticulously and frequently labelled his clothing to prevent any more mishaps. _I.. I don't know when I'll see him again._

"Your name is Edward Elric."

"That's a foreign name, so his last name should be his family name." Hattori interjected.

 _Names are said differently here?_ Edward frowned. "So, that girl's first name is Ran?"

As Megure opened his mouth to answer, the door slid opened, admitting two doctors into the room. One of them examined Ed's automail while the other one talked to Megure quietly, before pulling a small mirror away from the way.

"Watch where you're poking!" Edward snapped at the first doctor and batted away a prodding hand. Ed's eyes then fell on the mirror held by the other doctor.

 _What the heck?_

A child stared at him. Dwarfed by the seemingly larger and heavier automail prosthetics, Edward was tiny, even smaller than usual. Damn it. However, on closer inspection, his body was slightly more rounded with baby fat.

 _I haven't shrunk! I've de-aged! I'm younger by about ten years!_

"Is something else wrong?" Asked the dark-skinned teenager who picked him up earlier with a heavy accent, as he smirked with a knowing look in his eyes.

"What do you want?" Edward snapped warily, glaring at the dark-skinned teenager who picked him up earlier. I may look younger than I used to… But I'm not weak or little!

The second doctor, however, smirked smugly, "Just as I thought!"

Huh? Edward cocked his head.

"You have Psychogenic Amnesia". The doctor grinned, "That's a very rare phenomenon."

"Read the mood, Daisuke!" The first doctor snapped, pulling out a stethoscope and slipping it up Edward's hospital shirt in order to listen to his heartbeat.

Daisuke flinched, the grin slipping off his face. "Patients with this type of amnesia forget not only their past, but their very identity. That is why the boy couldn't recognise himself in the mirror."

Edward inwardly smirked, _Sure! Why not?_

"This type of amnesia is usually triggered by an event that the person's mind is unable to cope with properly. In most cases the memory either slowly or suddenly comes back within a few days. However, the memory of the shocking event itself may never come back completely." The doctor continued.

"Has it ever taken longer for the memories to come back?" Edward's hands shook, attracting looks of pity and concern. _I might have to find another cover!_

"Episodes of psychogenic amnesia can last from a few hours to several days, or sometimes even months, although severe cases are very rare." The other doctor chimed in, removing the stethoscope and patting Edward's hand awkwardly. "Don't worry, chances are, you'll remember who you are in no time."

"Are there any more side effects that we have to worry about?" Takagi had whipped out his notebook and was scribbling in it furiously.

Daisuke thought for a second before responding, "Patients usually preserve their semantic memories, procedural memories, and the ability to create new memories."

"Isn't Semantic memory the remembrance of facts, meanings, concepts and knowledge about the external world that we have acquired throughout our lives?" Edward recalled a dusty black textbook covered in blue ink stains. "While Procedural memory is the unconscious memory of skills and how to do things?"

The adults blinked in shock, and Daisuke cleaned his glasses furiously.

"You're just like Ku-Conan!" Hattori laughed while patting Edward's head. "All those facts stored in such a _small_ brain!"

Edward seethed, much to Hattori's amusement, "Are you implying that I'm short!?"

Seeing that Edward was distracted, Daisuke quickly turned to Megure, his eyes dark and serious. "I got a degree in psychology before I became a doctor, Megure-keibu. So I have analyzed these cases thoroughly.

"Is something wrong?" Mouri along with the other police officers (and Conan) slipped within earshot of the doctor's final analysis.

Daisuke took a deep breath. "Freudian psychology suggests that psychogenic amnesia is an act of self-preservation, where the alternative might be overwhelming anxiety or even suicide. This is considered the most likely cause of the amnesia, as neurologically, normal autobiographical memory processing is blocked by an imbalance of stress hormones such as glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids in the brain. This occurs particularly in the regions of the limbic system involved in memory processing."

Shiratori's eyes were dark with concern. "Do you mean-?"

"That boy needs to be watched," Daisuke interjected. "Or at least have someone with him at all times. So when his memory eventually returns, someone can calm him down. Especially due to his age and the severity of his injuries."

"I've found the release latch!" The other doctor called, prodding at Edward's automail arm.

 _He must has applied pressure to the right panel._ Edward frowned. _Damn! I hate doing this with an audience…_

"Remove it!" Daisuke pushed past Mouri, "The kid was coughing up blood earlier, there must be high amount of stress placed on his body."

 _Yeah, I really don't have time to go through the rehab process again._ Edward tensed. _I don't care how mush this is going to hurt. Take it off!_

The doctor ran his fingers over the exposed wires until a small, thin latch was found. Gritting his teeth, Edward watched as the doctor to slipped his fingers underneath it, and yanked upwards. As the automail arm detached, a jolt of electricity jumped to Edward's exposed nerves. He let out a yelp as a wave of pain crashed over him. Shaking violently and gasping, Edward slipped his right arm off his oversized port and let it fall onto the bed.

"Does it always hurt?" The girl… Mouri? gasped, and moved to comfort him.

The doctor placed a hand on Edward's forehead in worry. "It seems to be attached to the kid's nerves directly. So yes, it should always hurt."

Edward rolled his eyes, an irritated scowl gracing his face. _Detaching it like this? I don't think so. It's just that the ports need tightening, so arm isn't properly connected to my nerves. It's the reattachment that's the killer. You guys really don't have automail here, do you?_

* * *

After Edward had fainted during the detachment of his prosthetic leg, they had been promptly shooed from the room while the boy rested. Of course, this meant that the police went back to the station, planning to file Edward's case, run more background checks and finish up on the drug bust down at the warehouses. Mouri went home to finish another marathon of Yoko shows, while Ran hurried to her Karate practise. Agasa had rushed into the hospital the minute Conan texted him and was currently examining Edward's prosthetics. Conan, however, had to been to his devices for once, but his mind kept returning to the injured boy and the enigma he was.

He juggled a soccer ball from one foot to the other, lost in thought until a shadow fell across him.

"What do you think 'bout the kid, Kudo?" A grin was splashed across Hattori's face as he raised an eyebrow.

Conan glared at the taller teen and clenched his fists defensively. "He definitely appears to be one of their victims damn it!"

"You sure?" Hattori frowned thoughtfully, "True, he was found in clothes too big for him, and he speaks like a mini-adult as well. But whose side do you think he's on?"

"You think that he was former B.O member?" Conan nodded, "Normally that would be highly likely, due to his wariness, desire to hid his identity, lack of DNA identification, and convenient amnesia. However…"

"He's a cripple".

"Yeah, knowing how they work, he would have been killed for his uselessness before he got those limbs, unless he's important to them. But if he was that important to them…"

"They wouldn't have poisoned someone like him, and sent him here for the sole purpose of spying on us. Instead, we'd already be dead".

"And his amnesia?" Conan paced in front of Hattori, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Plausible, but too convenient." Hattori responded, his gaze drifting to the hospital doors.

"There's a chance that he really does have amnesia, but its unlikely given the circumstances. By faking amnesia he doesn't have to create a new identity, or tell the police his real age."

"Those injuries were not created purposely, neither was the horror at discovering his prosthetic limbs." Hattori realised. "Apparently he nearly died on the way to the hospital due to blood loss, and he looked terrified when we saw him."

Conan opened his mouth, about to say more, when a horrified yell resounded out of the hospital room behind them. He exchanged glances with Hattori and raced inside, barging the door open in his hurry.

Edward was pressed up against the wall at the back of his hospital bed, his eyes were wide with horror and an accusatory finger was stabbed at the TV. A nurse hovered nearby, her face twisted in confusion as she clutched a small remote.

"A soul?" Edward roared, "You sick f**** actually trapped a soul in there for entertainment purposes!"

"Language young man!" The nurse blustered, "Now what is this all about?!"

"What is this about?! I'll tell you what this is all about…!"

"You don't know what a TV is?" Conan cut off, lowering his head in thought causing the light to reflect off his glasses, hiding his eyes in a bright, white light.

Hattori laughed, "You must have hit your head harder than you thought! We use TV's for entertainment and to learn what's going on in the world in more detail. There are no… souls involved".

Edward blinked, tilting his head thoughtfully, "how's it made?"

"It doesn't matter, boy." The nurse shook her head, chuckling as she fixed the IV in Edward's arm. "I'm sure you'll find out when you're older and can understand it better."

Conan bit back a laugh as Edward's fingers clenched and his eyes flashed in irritation.

"It's my age that doesn't matter, you old bat." Edward spat, grinning as the nurse's face twisted into a scowl. "I want to know, I need to understand."

"To understand how a TV works you must understand these principles," Hattori began, his face twisted into a slight smile, "If you divide a still image into a collection of small coloured dots, your brain will reassemble the dots into a meaningful image. On televisions screens, these are called pixels, and rely on this fusion-of-small-colored-dots capability in the human brain to chop pictures up into thousands of individual elements."

Hattori took another breath, "The second principle states that if you divide a moving scene into a sequence of still pictures and show the still images in rapid succession, the brain will reassemble the still images into a single, moving scene."

"So basically, images and motion are created by the TV taking advantage of those two principles." Edward grinned, hanging onto Hattori's every word.

Conan raised his eyebrows, surprised that Edward picked it up so quickly. Then he shook his head with a smile. Of all people, I should know that appearances can be deceiving.

"A light inside the television screen rapidly moves across the screen in thin lines that produce the image." Hattori continued. "There is only one light in black and white televisions. That light turns on for every receptor that should be white and turns off for every receptor that should be black. Colour televisions, however, have red, blue and green lights that fire at receptors in the appropriate colours."

"That means that white is created by lighting all receptors and black is created by turning off the light entirely." Edward interrupted, "All other colours should be combinations of red, blue and green."

Hattori flashed a grin, "Quite right, little man."

Edward lunged at Hattori while yelling, "WHO-ARE-YOU-CALLING-SO-TINY-THAT-HE-NEED-NOT-FEAR-BEING-CRUSHED-BY-A-BOOT-BECAUSE-HE-FITS-SO-EASILY-BETWEEN-THE-GROOVES-OF-A-SOLE?!"

While Edward attacked a laughing Hattori and Conon stood by unsympathetically, Megure's hand hesitated on the door handle before turning away and heading back down the corridor. "Have his IQ tested." He ordered Shiratori, "I suspect it's on the same level as Conan-kun's".


	3. Chapter 3

A week after the incident, there was knock on the door of the Mouri household.

"Another Freeloader?!" Mouri roared. "Just who do you think I am? A babysitter?"

"Now, now, Mouri, calm down," Megure wheeled Edward further into the room. "An orphanage wouldn't be able to give Edward-kun the care he needs, especially since the Professor is still making Edward's arm and leg for him. Edward's past is still under investigation, and you're one of the only people I trust to help. Speaking of trust, Edward-kun only trusts Ran-chan, Hattori-kun, Agasa-sensei and Conan-kun, he won't open up to anybody else."

Edward snorted. They were the only people who bothered to answer _his_ questions and talked to him without seeing him as just a little kid, a double amputee at that. Well, Ran was too nice to resent for babying him. The police just spent _their_ sweet time interrogating him about his lack of memories and injuries… not to mention, they looked at him with pity in their eyes.

"The kid is stuck in a wheelchair! I don't have time to deal with his _special needs_! We live in a second storey apartment for God's sake!" Mouri complained.

"I may be missing a few limbs here and there…" Edward interrupted, fixing Mouri with a deadly stare, his eyes burning a fierce, molten gold, capturing the colour and intensity of the sun, "…"But I am _not_ disabled." The corners of Edward's mouth twitched upwards into a smirk, "The stairs were a piece of cake…" Edward deliberately ignored Megure's not so discreet cough, "…so don't you _dare_ treat me like an invalid!"

As Edward met Mouri's eyes challengingly, Conan squirmed nervously. That statement could very easily be taken as being rude, by Mouri's standards at least. _Man, Edward's gonna get it._

True to Conan's word, Mouri rapped his fist sharply on Edward's head, much like he'd disciplined Conan in the past for snooping and getting in the way.

"Show some respect! Damn Brat!"

"I only respect people who've earned it! I don't even know who you are!"

Mouri puffed out his chest, closed his eyes and let a goofy smile creep onto his face, "I'm the great Detective Mouri!"

Edward sighed and rolled past the detective, heading for Ran and Conan, "I have amnesia, remember?! That name doesn't mean anything to me!"

Mouri's face went purple again and aimed another fist at Edward's head only to be blocked by Ran. "Don't hit a child in a wheelchair!"

"But Ran…" Mouri complained.

Ignoring the squabble, Edward smiled wearily at Conan. "Do you have any books that I could borrow? Once the nurses found out that I couldn't read Japanese characters they brought me nothing but picture books! Picture books aimed at toddlers! Give my intelligence _some_ credit at least!"

It was true. Thanks to the Gate, Edward could understand the spoken language of Japanese easily and with concentration, could speak Japanese himself. The written language however, was a completely different matter. Fortunately, his memory loss excuse allowed Edward to bluff his way past this obvious fault in his education, especially because he looked like a foreigner. _I still need to know how to read and write effectively, or else how on the Gate am I going to search for my way home?_

Conan smiled at Edward's annoyance, "Do you like Sherlock Holmes?"

"Who on earth is that?" Edward raised an eyebrow when Conan gasped dramatically and looked as though he'd taken a knife to the stomach. "Amnesia, remember?"

"A series of books written by a man named Arthur Conan Doyle, about a fictional detective whose observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning are at a level of pure genius!"

"…So you can show me which book's the first one in the series, then?" Edward butted in, smiling at Conan innocently. _Sheeh. He's even worse than Winry on her automail rants._

As Edward followed Conan to his room, he shook his head sadly. _Scratch that. No one's worse than Winry._

* * *

Four hours later, Sato and Takagi visited the Mouri household to find the two small boys holed up in their room, poring over the Sherlock Holmes books.

"Edward?" Takagi called, "We're just dropping off some schoolbooks for you that Shiratori picked up from his girlfriend."

Conan looked up, blinking at Takagi in surprise, his mind whirling to theories and conclusions. Edward, however, didn't move. Staring at the book with a light frown on his face, he turned a page.

"Ah! don't mind him," Conan explained, putting on a childish tone, "he's focusing really hard on his book, so he can't hear you right now."

Sato smiled, relieved to see that Edward wasn't causing trouble for once. (His complaining about hospital food and tantrums about people calling him short had caused half the nurses and doctors to have nervous breakdowns). Then she saw the cover of the book, "Isn't that book too hard for him? Don't forget that Edward's two years younger than you."

"But he's already learnt Hiragana and Katakana, and is starting to learn Kanji!" Takagi plucked the book from the Edward's hands and examined it thoroughly. "Ahh, sorry Edward-kun." He apologised as Edward let out a cry of outrage and pouted.

"That's amazing, Edward-kun!"

"All I need to do is match the symbols to the words I say," Edward mumbled, shifted in his seat awkwardly, "It's not that hard… oh, and Conan's a good teacher."

"It seems that we won't have to worry about Edward keeping up at school tomorrow!" Sato smiled enthusiastically.

"Huh?!"

"He'll be going to Teitan Elementary School with Conan tomorrow and will be in his classes until his guardians can be found. However, we will hide Edward's lack of memories so it can fit in easier at school".

 _He he, good luck with that!_ Edward thought. _I don't exactly exist here, so I don't have guardians!_

"But Takagi-keiji, Sato-keiji," Conan frowned, "You start Elementary school in Japan at the age of 6. Edward's too little, he's only 5!" _I wonder why the police want him to attend second year classes two years early? Is it due to his amnesia… or is there something they aren't telling us?_

While Edward fumed his seat, muttering death threats and shooting glares in Conan's direction, Sato and Takagi exchanged glances.

"Apparently, having your memories return from amnesia cases like this is highly traumatising, Conan. We think that it would be better for him to have someone around who he trusts and is responsible enough to help him."

 _I don't need help!_ Edward scoffed, as Conan nodded his head resignedly. _I need to get home!_

* * *

"For me?" Edward eyed the bowl of food placed in front of him as he sat at the Mouri household's table. Conan was seated next to him, happily scooping up noodles and fish while pressing Mouri for more details about a kidnapping case. Mouri, of course, was frantically defending his lack of progress. His mouth pouting sulkily and fingernails digging into the table, Mouri snapped out his answers and quickly busied himself in inhaling as much noodles as possible, probably so he could head back to finish the Yoko marathon.

Ran took a seat in front of him and nodded encouragingly. "Of course! What hosts would we be if we didn't give you anything for dinner?!"

"But its not equivalent." Edward frowned, his fists clenched in annoyance. "The police paid my hospital bills and now you're giving me a place to stay. I haven't done anything for you, so why are you helping me like this? You don't even know me! Any other person would have just dumped me in an orphanage and left me there."

 _Leaving a crippled kid with amnesia in an orphanage without proper support is just asking for trouble._ Conan frowned. _The police are right, he wouldn't get the support he needs, and no one would ever adopt him. His only option is to find his family and friends so they can raise him._ Conan stubbornly refused to think about the possibility of Edward having no one.

"Is it really so hard to believe that we are looking after you because we want too?" Ran scandalised, her mouth open in shock.

Edward met her eyes challengingly, "The world doesn't work like that."

 _The brat might not be as irritating as Conan after all._ Mouri thought to himself in surprise before chuckling. "How about we make a deal, brat?"

A grin spread over Edward's face, "What have you got for me, old man?"

"Try to remember as much as you can, so you find your relatives and get out of my house faster. Tell us everything you suddenly remember so we can help you do this. Help out around the house and stay out of my way while you're here. Oh, you and your family can also pay me back for letting you stay here."

Edward froze, his mind turning over the first two requirements in horror, knowing that no matter what, he would never be able to meet them. In this world, he simply didn't exist. _If I am reminded of events in my life while I am here, I will tell them what I can remember._ Edward thought sadly. _However, I won't go into too much detail or talk about people and places that don't exist here. This is the best I can do, Mouri. Equivalent exchange._ Edward plastered a smile on his face and reached for his bowl. "Got it!"

"Father!" Ran complained, "You can't make deals like that with a child!"

"Not a child," Edward deadpanned while manhandling the noodles into his mouth with the chopsticks. _I haven't been one for five years._

* * *

Conan woke up to a loud scream. Bolting upright, he noticed that the room was still dark, so it was still late evening or early morning. A sharp whimper sounded from the small nest of bedding beside him.

"Edward-?" Conan crawled out of bed and hurried to the younger boy's side.

Edward's face was flushed, sweaty, and twisted into an expression of agony. Tears streamed from his eyes and his sheets were twisted around his leg in a furious tangle. "N-no!" The small child groaned, clutching at his automail port on his right shoulder. "S-Stop!"

 _Is he remembering the day he lost his limbs?_ Conan's eyes widened in shock as he took in Edward's appearance. He looked so vulnerable. So young and small. _Though he'd probably kill me if he heard that_ , Conan thought. It was massive contrast to the loud, strong, boisterous kid from earlier, the difference was large enough that they could almost be different people. Highly concerned, Conan gently shook the other boy. "Wake up! It's just a dream!"

Edward's eyes stayed stubbornly closed, and continued to toss his head from side to side, whimpering in a babbled mix of Japanese and another language, which sounded similar to German.

"This is one horrible nightmare." Mouri sighed, sliding out of his bed and crouching beside Edward's head. "I'm surprised Ran hasn't woken up yet."

"Alphonse!?" Edward went limp, his voice filled with confusion and fear.

Conan frowned. _Who on earth is Alphonse? A friend?_

Edward then whipped his head from side to side, and thrashed more violently while lettin out a sobbing cry, "NOO! ALPHONSE!"

"Help me hold him down, Ran." Mouri nodded to the figure frozen in the doorway, watching the scene in horror. "Before he hurts himself". Mouri latched onto Edward's arm and pushed down on his chest, while Ran went for Edward's legs.

"What have I done?!" Edward gasped, as he struggled weakly. "It's all my fault. This.. This wasn't supposed to happen! ALPHONSE!"

"Hold his hand, Conan." Mouri whispered, stroking Edward's head gently. "It will help."

"Take my arm!"

Conan flinched, his eyes widening at the hidden implications. _Did he actually let someone cut off his limbs?_

"Take my leg! Take anything!" Edward bit his lip harshly, causing blood to run down his chin in a red, sticky mess, mixing with his sweat and tears. "Just give him back! He's my little brother… HE'S ALL I'VE GOT LEFT!"

* * *

Conan sat up blearily and rubbed his eyes, yawning as the clock on the bedside table struck 7:00. A muffled thud shook the room as Edward fell to the ground, cursing after another failed attempt of climbing into his wheelchair. To Conan's surprise, Mouri scooped Edward off the ground and placed him into the chair with exaggerated care. _I thought he would be more angry after being kept up half the night by Edward's night terror._

"Need help?" Conan teased, his eyes alive with mirth.

"Shut up!" Edward's face turned crimson as he gave Conan a furious glare. "I would have gotten there in the end. I didn't need help!"

"So you don't want me to help you out of your borrowed pyjamas and into suitable clothes, or were you planning to go to school like that?" Conan smiled innocently as Edward fumed.

"Damn you, Edogawa." Edward cursed through his gritted teeth. "I'm not useless!"

"Breakfast is ready!" Ran called from the dining room area, as Edward and Conan finished changing into their clothes for the day. "Come and get it!"

"On our way!" Edward called, pulling a red hoodie over his new black t-shirt with Conan's help, leaving the right sleeve empty. "Do you wear that everyday?" Edward raised an eyebrow, staring at Conan's red bowtie.

Conan plucked the sleeve of his blue jacket as they walked down the hallway, "pretty much", he shrugged.

"Where did you get the clothes from, brat?" Mouri glared at Edward in suspicion from his seat at the head of the table.

 _And he goes back to being his arrogant, obnoxious self…_ Conan's eyebrow twitched.

"There's a fund set up for kids acting as witnesses under the protection of the police." Edward took his seat and swung his legs smugly. "Despite neither having any memories to speak of, nor technically living with any police supervision… I qualify".

"Ha! Less money for me to worry about!" Mouri cheered, "I won't even have to worry about you brats annoying me today at all, cause you'll be at school!"

"That's rude, Dad!" Ran glared at her father before turning towards Conan and Edward. "You will have to walk to school with me to meet with the principal and your home room teacher, instead of walking with your friends".

"It's to arrange special classes to teach him basic maths and writing, isn't it?" Conan smiled, "So he can keep up in class?"

 _Keep up in class?!_ Edward gritted his teeth with his fists clenched, _I'll show him_ _exactly_ _how I keep up in class. I'm qualified enough to teach the High-level Mathematics course_ _and_ _the Advanced Theoretical Alchemy course in the Amestrian University, dammit!_

As Ran nodded, Conan grinned to himself as he examined the angry scowl on his friend's face who was furiously attacking his breakfast. _Yup… He's pissed._

* * *

"Good morning everyone!" Kobayashi-sensei faced the classroom with a hand resting on Edward's chair. "We have a new transfer student who's come all the way from Germany; Elric, Edward!"

The group of small children stared openly at Edward's hair and eye colour, gasping as their eyes lingered over Edward's wheelchair and missing limbs. Grumbling under his breath, Edward shook his head. _I haven't gone to school since I was 9 for a goddamn reason, being a prodigy and having a goal to reach. If kids my_ _own_ _age are considered a bunch of whiny, naïve, idiotic pricks by my standards, then having to learn and deal with kids younger than_ _half_ _my age was going to be_ _just_ _lovely._ "

Call me Ed," Edward nodded at the class. "Only people who want to kill me called Edward. Usually after an irritating and dramatic monologue."

Conan snorted in amusement, severely worried about his new friend's mental health as the rest of the class laughed nervously, taking the comment as a joke.

"Sensei!" The adult nodded at a large boy (for his age of course), wearing a green sweater. "Why does he only have one leg and one arm?"

"Genta-kun!" A small girl with brown, short hair and a yellow hairband glared at the boy. "That's rude!"

"Oh.. Umm." Genta chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry…"

"It's fine." Edward interrupted, deciding to go with the cover story he was given into order to hide his 'supposed' amnesia. Fortunately, the police were willing to give him one in order to help him 'fit in' better at school. _I may as well get this over with_. "I was involved in a nasty train accident outside my hometown. I got a nasty blow to the head though, so I can't remember much." _There, that should stop most questions about it._ Edward then made himself look thoughtful. "The doctors say they were amputated medically, though".

"Amputated…?"

"Cut off, Ayumi-chan." A thin boy with freckles, explained.

The class looked shocked, "You mean you can't remember what happened? Anything at all?" A few students clamoured, with their faces slightly green.

Edward smiled sadly, images of the Gate's sickly grin, Alphonse being ripped apart, and the twisted monster crouching in the centre of the transmutation circle flashing behind his eyes. "Not a thing. However, I have a feeling I got hurt during the accident because of a stupid mistake I made and I deserved everything I got."

Conan breathed in sharply as he noticed a large degree of bitterness in Edward's eyes. _Does he remember something? And does he really believe losing his limbs is his fault?_

Edward shifted uncomfortably at the pity reflected in the children's eyes. _Don't look like that, dammit!_ So he rapped sharply on the wheelchair with his left hand, "I'll be fine! My prosthetic limbs will be finished soon, and in just a few weeks I'll be up and running just like everybody else!" Edward plastered on the fake smile that fooled Alphonse every time and rolled his chair next to the only empty seat, in between Conan, and Ayumi, the girl with the hairband. However, as he reached his place between the two kids, something became glaringly obvious.

"Ha! He's really short! I bet that even if he stands up, he'll be even shorter than Ayumi-chan!"

The response was instantaneous, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN ANT SO SMALL, HE'LL BE CRUSHED BY AN ATOM!" Edward glared furiously at the unfortunate boy, and tried to launch himself out of his seat to reach him.

Conan, remembering Edward's arguments with Hattori, quickly restrained him. "Calm down Edward-kun, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that!"

"Yes he did! I'm not deaf!" Edward struggled against Conan, "Let me at him brother !"

He froze, hanging limply in Conan's grasp as he realised which Amestrian word had accidently slipped out. _Alphonse… I'm sorry. I left you alone._

 _Brother ?_ Conan narrowed his eyes and released Edward, sliding back into his seat. Leaning into his fist, he puzzled out the confusing word, which sounded German, but it wasn't any German word Conan had ever heard before. In fact, the word seemed to contain some elements of Japanese. _Could the word be a name? Or a title? Who is this brother ?_


End file.
